Container for storing and carrying articles

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to a container for storing trays and the like which includes a walled container having a door hingedly mounted thereon. The container includes means for supporting trays within the container together with a flange on the top portion of the door for engagement with and support of the front portion of the top. The door is provided with a further flange on the jamb edge for engagement with notches carried by the inner surface of the wall when the door is closed. A further feature includes a lock for the door and a handle for the container.

United States Patent 1 1 Springer [451 Sept. 30, 1975 1 CONTAINER FORSTORING AND CARRYING ARTICLES [75] Inventor: Donald A. Springer, LakeSt. Croix [21] Appl. No.1 486,602

[52] US. Cl 312/138 A; 220/306; 220/339; 312/199; 312/245 [51] Int. Cl.B65D 85/54; B65D 79/60 158] Field of Search 312/138 A, 236, 126, 199,312/245; 220/339 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,346,4304/1944 Hauser 312/138 A 2.839347 6/1958 Strub 312/138 A 3.082.903 3/1963Stevens et a1 220/339 Howard 312/236 Dyer et a1. 312/236 PrimaryE.\'aminerPaul R. Gilliam Assistant ExaminerAleX Grosz Attorney, Agent,or FirmWicks & Nemer [5 7 ABSTRACT The invention relates to a containerfor storing trays and the like which includes a walled container havinga door hingedly mounted thereon. The container includes means forsupporting trays within the container together with a flange on the topportion of the door for engagement with and support of the front portionof the top. The door is provided with a further flange on the jamb edgefor engagementwith notches carried by the inner surface of the wall whenthe door is closed. A further feature includes a lock for the door and ahandle for the container.

1 Claim, 17 Drawing Figures US. Patent Sept. 30,1975 Sheet 1 of43,909,089

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, W um 18 24 U.S. Patant Sept. 30,1975 Sheet 2 of4 3,909,089

US. Patent Sept. 30,1975 Sheet 3 of4 3,909,089

ll/IIIIIIIII US. Patent Sept. 30,1975 Sheet4 of4 3,909,089

CONTAINER FOR STORING AND CARRYING ARTICLES SUMMARY The inventionrelates broadly to containers for storing and carrying articles and moreparticularly to a container for storing and carrying trays, particularlythose used in the food service business. Currently used models ofcontainers made of metal entail detailed fabrication with rivets and orwelding. The subject container has a construction whereby the same maybe molded of plastic and still have the necessary structural integrityto withstand abuse in use and handling.

The hinged door of the container has a flange on the jamb side whichengages in notches formed in the outer ends of spaced tray-supportingflanges formed on a sidewall when the door is closed. This aids inrigidifying both the sidewall and the door, the door end of a containerbeing the weaker end. With this construction the door is securely heldagainst popping open if the container is dropped or mishandled.

The door has a flange formed on the upper edge thereof and it is sopositioned that it engages the underside of the top to thereby supportthe top at the front portion normally the weaker portion of the top.With the above construction the interior of the container is clean ofbraces, supports and the like which allows the placement of trays in thecontainer.

The container is provided with a new and novel door lock of acontruction that is flush with the front face surface of the door, whichsecurely and simply locks the door and which when sealed with a US.Customs seal cannot be removed from the door without destroying thelock.

The container is also provided with a new and novel carrying handlewhich is extremely easy and economical to secure to the container andwhich is flush with the top of the unit.

In the drawings forming part of this application:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view ofa container embodying the invention withthe door in closed and locked position.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view similar to that of FIG. 1 but with the doorin open position and the handle for the container shown removed inexploded perspective position.

FIG. 2a is a sectional veiw on the line 2a-2a of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view on the line 33 of FIG. 1. FIG. 4 is asectional view on the line 4-4 of FIG. 3. FIG. 5 is a sectional view onthe line 55 of FIG. 1. FIG. 6 is a sectional view on the line 66 of FIG.5. FIG. 7 is a top plan view of the lock on the door of the container inthe closed position.

FIG. 8 is a bottom plan view of a portion of the lock in FIG. 7.

FIG. 9 is a view similar to that of FIG. 7 but with the lock in openposition.

FIG. 10 is a bottom plan view of a portion of the lock in FIG. 9.

FIG. 11 is a sectional view on the line 11-l1 of FIG.

FIG. 12 is a top plan view of the lock unit with the cover plateremoved.

FIG. 13 is a top plan view of the cover plate removed from the unit.

FIG. 14 is a bottom edge view of the cover plate.

FIG. 15 is a top plan view of the rotatable lock plate removed from theunit.

FIG. 16 is an edge view of the rotatable lock plate.

Referring to the drawings in detail, the container for trays A includesthe bottom 16, the sidewalls l8 and 20 connected to the bottom and therear wall 22 connected to the sidewalls together with the top 24connected to the sidewalls and the rear wall. The bottom, top, sidewallsand rear wall are generally molded in one piece with radii 25 providedat the junctures of the top, sides, rear wall and bottom. With theseradii the cleaning of the internal corners of the container is greatlyfacilitated. Further provided is the door 26 hingedly mounted on thefront edge of the sidewall 20 by means of the higne 28.

The inner surface of the sidewall 18 has molded as part thereof theuppermost tray-supporting flange 30 which is generally parallel to thetop and bottom. The front edge of the flange 30 is formed with the notch32. Further provided are the additional spaced flanges 34, 36, 38, and42, which are molded as part of the wall 18 with the radii such as 25.The flanges 34 and 40 are formed with the notch 44 as in the case of theflange 30. Flanges are also molded on the inner surface of the sidewall20 complementary to the flanges 3042 and where visible bear the samereference numeral but accompanied by a lower case letter a. Formed onthe underside of and integral with the raised top portion 54 andextending to the front edge of the top are the spaced ribs 46, 48, and52 the underside of which is coterminuous with the underside of the restof the top.

The door 26 includes the flat front portion 56 from which extends theright angularjamb flange 58 particularly FIGS. 2 and 5. The flange 58terminates in the short bottom flange 60 molded integrally with thefront portion 56 and which terminates at its inner end in the lowershort wall portion 62 connected to the wall portion 64. The upper end ofthe wall portion 64 terminates in the flange 66 formed integrally withand at a right angle to the wall portion 64. The wall portion 64 is alsomolded integrally with the upper short wall 68. It will be seen that thedoor wall portion 64 is angularly disposed to the flat plane of thedoorwall portion 56, particularly FIGS. 1, 2, and 5.

Further, the wall portion 56 has formed therein a recess 70,particularly FIGS. 7, 9 open at one end between the upper and lowershort walls 68 and 62, respectively, and bounded on the sides by theconverging walls 72 and 74 which terminate in the end wall 76. The

recess accepts the lock unit L.

FLUSH LOCK UNIT The flush unit L for the door 26 includes the innerbottom portion 78 which is molded as part of door portion 56 whichterminates at its outer edge at wall 79 which in turn terminates in theouter bottom portion 80. Further provided is the rotatable circularlocking plate 82 which is rotatable on the surface of the outer bottomportion 80. Formed in the bottom are the spaced arcuate slots 84 and 86and extending from the latch plate 88 and through the slots are screws90 and 92 which are anchored in the locking plate 82 thereby mountingthe circular locking plate 82 for limited partial rotation about itsaxis by means of the handle 94 from the locked position of FIGS. 7 and 8to the unlocked position of FIGS. 1, 9, and 12. The handle 94 is formedas part of the locking plate 82.

The locking plate 82 has formed thereon the partially annular rib 96,particularly FIGS. 11, 12, and 16 and extending radially from the plate82 in the plane of the rib 96 is the first arcuate segmental flange 98.Further provided is the second arcuate segmental flange 100 extendingradially from the plate 82 from a point below the flange 98 and in adirection opposite to that of flange 98. The handle 94 extends upon andbeyond the flange 98.

The numeral 102, particularly 13, designates a cover plate whichincludes the flat leg portions 104 and 106 which join the top portion108. Formed in the leg portions and the top portion where it joins theleg portions is the semi-circular opening 110. Secured to the undersideof the leg portions 104 and 106 and extending between the leg portionsis the connector portion 112. The connector portion 112 has formedtherein the notch 114 formed with the acruate edge 116 which terminatesat one end in the shoulder 118. The outer edges of the cover plate 102rest upon the shoulders 101 and 103 formed in the converging sidewalls72 and 74 respectively and the shoulder 105 in the end wall 76 of theunit L, particularly FIGS. 7 and 12. The cover plate is also supportedby the wall 79 molded as part of the portion 78 of the door at thejuncture of 78 and 80.

Secured to and extending from the end of the latch plate 88 is the hook128 formed of the right angular portion 130 which terminates in theouter right angular portion 132 parallel to the plate 88. The portion132 terminates in the flange portion 134 which engages the notch 135 ofthe catch plate 137 when the lock is in closed (locked) position withthe door closed. The diameter of the semi-circular opening 110 of thecover plate 102 is such that the circular locking plate 82 is rotatablewithin the same by means of the handle 94.

When the door 26 is closed, the same may be securely locked by movingthe handle 94 to the position shown in FIGS. 7, 8, l1 and 12, and as aresult the flange portion 134 of the hook 128 engages the notch of catchplate 137. As the lock is in the locked position of FIGS. 7, 8, and 15,the arcuate flange 100 is beneath the connector plate 112 with thearcuate flange 98 exposed. When the lock is in the unlocked position ofFIGS. 9 and 10 the arcuate flange 98 is under the leg portion 106 of thecover plate 102 and the arcuate flange 100 is partially exposed as inFIG. 9 with the remaining portion of the flange under the cover plate.As the door is fully closed the flange 66 of the door engages under theribs 46-52 thereby supporting the top 24. Also as the door is closed,the flange 58 of the door engages in the notch 32 of the supportingflange 30 and the notch 44 of the supporting flange 40 thereby securelyengaging the sidewall 18 with the door which rigidifies both thesidewall 18 and the door. Additionally, the flange 60 of the doorcontacts the bottom 16 to further rigidify the door and the bottom.

Further provided is the screw 178 which secures the plate 112 to thebase 180 in the wall 79, see FIGS. 11 and 12 in particular. The handle94 has formedtherein the slot 182 and the connector plate 112 has theslot 184. With the Customs seal 186 engaging in both the slots 182 and184, access cannot be had to the screw 178, and as a result the lockunit L cannot be removed. It will be seen that there is a space betweenthe cover plate and the door portion 78 as at X where a users hand mayengage under the cover plate to engage the cover plate as a handle.

FLUSH HANDLE UNIT Further provided is the flush handle unit H whichincludes the frame 136, and the frame 136 includes the spaced sideportions 139 and 140 joined by the end portion 138. The frame 136 hasthe raised offset rib 141 formed on the flat side portion 136, theoffset rib 142 formed on the flat end portion 138 and the offset rib 144formed on the flat side portion 139 The ends of the flat side portions139 and 140 and the ribs 141 and 144 thereon are connected by the bar146. The numeral 148 designates a bail including the U-shaped wiremember having the legs 150 and 152 joined by the cross bar 154. Each legportion is formed with the trunnion 156 one of which engages in a holein the rib 142 with the other trunnion engaged in a hole in the bar 146.The length of the leg portion 150 and 152 is such that the handle bailmember 148 is pivoted to a flush position within the ribs 141, 144, 142and 146.

Formed on the top 24 are the spaced parallely disposed-raised ribs 158and 160 formed with the slots 162 and 164 respectively. The raisedportion 166 of the top is formed with the slot 168 in alignment with theslots 162 and 164, FIGS. 1, 2a and 4. The ribs 158 and 160 are reducedto the shoulder portions 170 and 172 the inner edges of which arealigned with the inner edges of the slots 162 and 164.

The handle unit H is mounted on the top by first positioning the samebetween the shoulders 170 and 172, and then sliding the unit with theflat side portions 134 and 136 within the slots 162 and 164 until theend portion 138 engages within the slot 168 and the bar 146 engages theshoulders 174 and 176. To secure the handle in position, screws 175 arepositioned through 158 and 160 and extended into holes 177 in sideportions 139 and 140. With the handle unit H in operative position onthe container A and with the ball in a flat condition, the entire unitis flush with the upper surface of the ribs 158 and 160. In the eventthe handle is broken, the same may be removed by removing the screws 175and a new handle easily inserted in place as heretofore described.

I claim:

1. A container for storing and carrying articles comprising:

a. a walled container having a top, bottom, a rear wall and side walls,

b. a door hingedly mounted on the container,

c. flange means carried by said door at the edge thereof, operablealigned for engagement with d. notches formed on the ends of flanges onthe interior ofa side wall of said container for added support of thewall when said door is closed, and

e. latch means for maintaining said door in closed position upon thecontainer.

1. A container for storing and carrying articles comprising: a. a walledcontainer having a top, bottom, a rear wall and side walls, b. a doorhingedly mounted on the container, c. flange means carried by said doorat the edge thereof, operable aligned for engagement with d. notchesformed on the ends of flanges on the interior of a side wall of saidcontainer for added support of the wall when said door is closed, and e.latch means for maintaining said door in closed position upon thecontainer.